#9

I use slim tips in my Phonak RIC aids. They’re vented, but custom moulded and sit deep in the canal. I get no occlusion and get a much better high frequency response than domes. I hated the occlusion of power domes

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#10

My problem with the molds I have tried is that the occlusion was too much, even with large vents. When I sing or play a brass instrument, I cannot hear the ensemble. Could this be from bone conduction?
These were acrylic mods. Would a silicone mold alleviate this problem?

#11

Is the slim tip a phonak product?

#12
#13

As far as I know, yes. Although, I’ve heard talk in the UK that Starkey are contracted to make them. Not sure on that.

From the Phonak Target software, they can be fitted to RIC and thin tubes

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#14

I’m wondering if Oticon makes a products similar to phonak slimtip.

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#15

I use diy silicone molds. I have a small dome in front of the silicone to keep the silicone out of the receiver when they are being molded.

#16

Oticon’s equivalent is called a ‘micromould’

3 Likes
#17

Why didn’t you enlarge the hole to make them more vented?

#18

I did enlarge it a lot: no effect.

#19

Which diy product do you use?

#20

Radians Custom Molded Earplugs, Orange

#21

Oh interesting.

You flush the receiver with these Radians Custom Molded Earplugs and let it set?

Does it stay attached to the receiver? Can I request a picture of your DIY? It is really interesting to see how it is doing.

#22

Put a dome on the receiver. Mix the earplug material. pack the material in the back of the dome and wrap it around the receiver. Put the whole thing in you ear canal as deep as you’re comfortable with. Use your finger to pack the mold material into your ear canal and around the receiver. Let it all harden. Take it out of your ear. Trim if needed with scissors.

If you feel like you have too much occlusion you can cut a small groove in the mold for a vent.

Also if you have voids in your molds you can mix a little bit more material and fill in the voids. The sooner you do this the better chance it will bind to the mold.

The ones in the photo were made at different times and I used different types of domes on the left and right.

Ear molds
Ear molds1920×2831 331 KB

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#23

Here are

KS9 with earmolds
KS9 with earmolds1024×620 60.7 KB

some older ones that have vent grooves.

And a photo of one in my ear.

Ear with KS9
Ear with KS91920×1080 135 KB

Here’s the commercial version that I used for my first couple of efforts, I don’t know if this kit is still available,

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#24

Here’s a thread from another user who makes his own ear molds:

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#25

Looking at my NHS acrylic mould it has STARKEY stamped on it along with my serial number.

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#26

Ear molds can improve the acoustic isolation between the speaker in your ear canal from the microphone above your ear, and therefore the gain in the frequencies around 2-3kHz, which are very important for speech can be turned up to what is needed for your loss. If the isolation is not really good, then there will be feedback, and either the aids or the audi must turn down the gain in this range.
(I’m in experimental physicist with 20 years experience with hearing aids.)

#27

@franc210
I find all this a fine balance between:

  1. Comfort
  2. Hearing what I need to hear
  3. Trying to avoid occlusion (venting)

Open domes are no good for my moderate/severe loss

Closed (2 holes) are better but high frequency gain is affected, and speech recognition impacted

Power domes give me unacceptable occlusion

Full moulds, to me, are not comfortable, bulky (to carry as spares) and although vented, I experience some occlusion

Vented Slimtips, and excellent programming, are currently my go to solution

Peter

#28

I’m curious what factors did you use to choose the color? Are there differences in the materials between the different colors?